#the thing i love about the witcher is geralt and ciri’s father daughter dynamic

[midshipmank]

i cannot be on tumblr for fear of seeing witcher spoilers, and yet here i am sneaking onto tumblr because where else would i be able to express how absolutely deranged i feel about geralt and ciri and yennefer and their domestic little family!!

[niruin-galyn]

An analysis: Geralt and Ciri

One of my favourite tropes is probably stoic, emotionless characters visibly caring about their friends, whether they treat them like kindly or simply show emotions through a mask of indifference. My biggest example of this would be Geralt with his friends, but especially with Ciri.

He’s always described as a loner, preferring to be by himself and solve his problems on his own. On his journeys he gets to know people and they become friends and allies. The thing I love the most? He doesn’t forcibly push them away and even appreciates their help or presence. He’s not welcoming or open immediately, but if you prove yourself, he’ll let you in. He doesn't like people, but his friends are exceptions. Look at his dynamic with Dandelion and Regis.

He may come over as unapproachable and cold to everyone, but his friends know better. They know he cares. They know Geralt would do anything to save his friends, to protect them. That’s the whole point of getting to know Geralt. You’re allowed a peek behind that cold masquerade and see that Geralt is a good person, someone who loves and mourns and feels. He’s unlike other witchers because he still feels and cares. His most beautiful relationship would be the father-daughter relation he has with Ciri.

I love the games for how they visualise this. Near the end of the Witcher 3, Geralt finally finds Ciri’s location, a cabin on the Isle of Mists. When he manages to get a group of dwarves taking shelter there to open up, he hears she’s dead. Geralt’s expression and stature in general when he’s about to enter is different now.

Usually he’s stoic, barely showing any emotion on his face or in his posture. He always looks confident, strong, sturdy, standing firmly in his shoes. Now he’s careful, visibly afraid, almost prolonging the moment he’ll really find out if Ciri is okay.

When he turns her around and realises she really is dead, he stumbles back. He stumbles. This man is always so confident and sturdy, and now his body seemingly gives up on him, as if he wants to fall through his knees. There’s a deep sadness visible on his face, as if he’s broken and his mask of indifference is gone.

This really broke me, not only because I love Ciri and it saddened me seeing her like that, but because it broke him as well. This is the first time we see Geralt, unfazed by decades of horrible events and trauma, lose face. I know in the books there’s moments like this, but this is the first time I saw it visualised so well and it broke me.

And when he holds her lifeless body in his arms, gently rocking back and forth, it made me bawl my eyes out. I think this immediately shows how much of a daughter Ciri really was to Geralt, but also how despite his stoic nature, he still needs people, even though he normally always appears so fine on his own.

Good news though, she’s alive. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but it's still amazing to see how it all happens in-game. Anyways, these scenes just kept me crying, because after she comes back to consciousness, they talk about their journeys towards each other. You can see how Geralt is smiling, clearly happy in her presence, but also showing emotions! I rarely saw Geralt smile, yet here he is, smiling at his daughter.

After reading their dynamics in the books and playing the games, I’ve come to the conclusion that this story isn’t about a monster hunter going on epic quests to save the world. I think Geralt wouldn’t necessarily feel moved to save it.

It’s a story of a friend, father and lover going through hell to save his daughter, and it’s his daughter that moves him to protect the world as well. The world is only as beautiful as the people in it.

[gayregis]

As much as i hate twn it's been very interesting seeing the surge of interest around the witcher and seeing how people outside of poland/EE interpret it and what they focus on? Like I dont mean this in any negative way at all but in a "its fascinating how people's cultural background shapes how they look at foreign art and it's weird to be part of the original culture that produced it and not the alien culture consuming it like it is with american movies or something" like it's just Fascinating

it is interesting, i don't have much to add as an american, but i think this should be an open discussion. i think cultural background definitely shapes how one sees characters interact, reads lines that were said, etc...

in my experience, what i've appreciated is reading the books once just to get my first impressions, then going through it over the past couple of years with additions and translation notes from a variety of sources (polish mutuals and other eastern european people on here that post about the witcher, r/wiedzmin commentary, random wordpress blogs, etc) to get a better understanding of what's going on in certain contexts and understanding some of the cultural differences. because i believe translator notes do not just begin and end with "this is what this word means," but rather are needed to understand whole characters and scenes, because of a variety of aspects. for translation in the sense of translating words, the syntax and diction changes a lot from the polish to english official UK translation. of course, some change is inevitable because of the way that polish and english grammar works. but in some cases it's so severe that it changes how the prose sounds and in many cases changes how the characters come off. @karanfile has spoken about this, where in english geralt is pretty wordy, whereas in polish geralt is brisk and curt, and it makes them entirely different characters. 

here is also, of course, context surrounding cultural references, such as torque saying “goodnight” at the end of edge of the world, or the bounds of reason/limits of the possible with regards to villentretenmerth and sheepbagger. the witcher does draw on a variety of european mythology (and even extends as far as japanese mythology in season of storms), and many tales are utilized and inverted. but i think where an american audience will know sh’eenaz and duke agloval from hans christen andersen’s the little mermaid, we will be completely in the dark when it comes to princess adda, torque... i have seen many american and british reviews of the witcher praising it for its uniqueness and never-seen-before quality in including kinds of creatures from slavic mythology, and i can’t help but chuckle a bit because it’s not really a matter of uniqueness, just that the american and british audience are not familiar with the mythology! plus, since it loses that “familiarity” like these characters are living in a strange, inverted rendition of a story from your childhood, the message highlighted right on the page that “THIS IS A SERIES ABOUT INVERTING FANTASY TROPES” can be missed sometimes (though i also feel like it still remains obvious, with main characters who are blatant inversions of their tropes...)

another thing i have noticed (also spoke about this with karanfile and others in the discord) especially is how love and romance is interpreted by polish and american audiences. i was reading this wordpress article by sylwia of warsaw about the differences between how polish and american cultures concieve of friendship (i was thinking about how geralt calls dandelion his przyjaciel as his first introduction). (also here is another good article by her on the subject). a few things which came to my mind from reading this, and these thoughts are about broad cultures, not individuals!: 

americans generally seem to not recognize that “a friend” can mean someone very close. the word “friend” basically stands in for any kind of friendly relationship, you may spoken to someone once or have known them closely for 20 years, and both are your “friend.” it is also suggested usually that one’s friend is at odds with their boyfriend or girlfriend, i.e., it’s usually suggested that people will prioritize their boyfriend or girlfriend over their friend, nevermind how close either relationship might be to their friend (again, there’s only one real word for “friend”). there is also attitude against this, in a counter-culture manner, in which you get the “bros before hoes” type of sayings. this attitude i think affects how many americans see geralt and dandelion’s relationship - i.e., it is read that dandelion is just geralt’s “friend,” so he is not important to geralt, and that being “friends” doesn’t insinuate any closeness, and is “lesser” to romance. this i think also affects how many geraskiers from twn have changed the dynamic between geralt and jaskier in their fanon, because much “happy” or “ideal” geraskier content is of them calling each other pet names, doting on one another, being overly and overtly romantic. geralt and dandelion have never acted like this in either netflix or the books, and in the books where they are actually friends, they do not treat each other like this and there is nothing to suggest that if they had a romantic relationship that their dynamic would change to fit this idea of what romance is like.

similarly, dandelion’s floweriness and “hyper-romance” (i have no idea how else to phrase it) in the books has been interpreted by some american fans as being genuine, cute, sweet, romantic, and admirable -- when it’s pretty clear that the intention is to make him look foolish and absurd. when he flirts with women such as detchka in eternal flame (the landlord’s daughter), he whines some bullshit (UK translation, made even more flowery and out-of-place by david french, “Forest dryad! Sylph! Fairy! O, Divine creature, with eyes like azure lakes. Thou art as exquisite as the morn, and the shape of thine parted lips are enticeingly…”) geralt and dudu (in the form of dainty) cringe at his performance. and this is who dandelion is, he plays with love and acts embarassingly dramatic and forward about it. but to an american audience, this behavior comes off as sweet, romantic, dreamy, desirable... not utterly stupid like it’s intended to?

i also think about geralt and yennefer. this is barring actual qualms about the writing of their relationship itself, but i have also seen american fans say that they do not act like a couple because they are not constantly doting on one another. and of course, misinterpreting yennefer’s sarcasm about the house dream in time of contempt as a genuine response (i do believe she also longed for a home, but was simply teasing geralt for being so optimistic as to think that they could ever achieve something like that, as it seems improbable (especially to her, as she is older than him and has seen more of life)).

bringing it back to what you have said, anon, i think “romance” is something the american audience definitely bangs their fists on the table to demand, and focuses very closely on couple relationships. not that this isn’t the case in ANY other countries’ cultures, but from my experience, a tie in for deep, blinding romance it seems to be essential to american storytelling. this is unfortunate to me because i believe romance is only one element which makes the witcher strong.

this attitude is also highly reflected in netflix’s witcher series, as they did not show how geralt and jaskier are close friends, did not show how geralt is ciri’s father, and did show geralt and yennefer together, BUT with the caveat that they ruined their entire relationship and made geralt insanely dominant, merciless in rebuking and taking advantage of yennefer. romance is prioritized and it’s only a certain type of romance that is...?

i invite more discussion on this post, if anyone else has thoughts, reblog at will

[him-e]

So curious about your Witcher Season 2 thoughts and who you ship! :)

As someone who has no context and no idea where the story is going and isn't familiar with either the books or the game, I'm super intrigued and excited for season 3. The scope and stakes of the story are finally starting to shape up and I can't wait to see what Ciri's destined to become and what will be Geralt and Yen's role in this. A few scattered thoughts:

I loved Voleth Meir as the season's big bad and hope to see more of her, but I felt like her arc was done a bit confusingly (though I'll admit I didn't pay enough attention to episode 2 which is crucial to understanding what's going on, so I'll probably rewatch it)

I think the show still has to decide whether it wants to have some monster-of-the-week episodes, or be 100% about the overarching plot. I'd prefer the latter, although this would mean losing small gems like 2.01 (did anyone else love the gothic romance vibe and the spin on the beauty and the beast trope?). Trying to do both makes the pacing a bit weird.

Having Yen be without magic powers for the entire season was a bold choice that I can only applaud. Frustrating, at times, especially because we don't really have a big "gets her powers back and starts kicking ass" climatic moment, but that's part of why it's interesting. We see a different Yen this season - somewhat understated and melancholic, more vulnerable and withdrawn than ever, but we also see how cunning and fearsome she can be even without her magic. This is clearly tragic for her because she shaped her entire identity and purpose around her powers, and sacrificed a lot for them, so her motivation throughout the season is entirely sympathetic.

Both Fringilla and Francesca are ambitious, passionate and ruthless and I loved both the Dinner of Death scene and Francesca going biblical on the Redanian infants. In general I love how this show has so many powerful, unapologetic and morally grey female characters.

Loved the Witchers' Castle Black!

Has anyone started calling Ciri a Mary Sue? Was her training montage long enough to justify becoming accepted by the witcherdudes special club? di d she b l e e d en o u g h?

I just love Ciri ok.

However, it is a bit annoying that Vesemir is only briefly tempted to kill her when she's possessed by Voleth Meir, and quickly comes around. It wouldn't feel so strange if the lesson previously learned, via Eskel's arc, was that sometimes the best and most compassionate thing to do with someone who's been possessed by an evil entity is kill them. I do think the writers wanted to use Eskel as foil to Ciri and as foreshadowing of what would happen to her, but the subtext is a bit messy/confusing here.

I scoffed at poor Roach's death. Unnecessary, sudden and cruel. I wish we'd seen more of Geralt's pain.

Geralt is a soft, soft boi.

I YELLED AT THE WILD HUNT. riders on the storm. YES GOOD.

*

Who do I ship? Well, primarily Geralt and Yennefer, of course. But also Geralt and Ciri (in a weird way: I'm completely sold on their surrogate father/daughter dynamic, but I'm such a sucker for psychic bonds and being each other's destiny). I'm kind of into Fringilla/Cahir and possibly Fringilla/Francesca, and in season 1 I had a brief moment of "what if they kissed?" with Yen and Vilgefortz, but mostly because the actor is just absurdly hot (not especially vibing with him & Tissaia tho).

This season's surprise ship for me was Yen/Cahir - when she freed him instead of executing him and they fled together I was like RELUCTANT ALLIES! ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS! But ultimately, I'm too intrigued by the idea of Ciri/Cahir as enemies to lovers, which I've had since season 1 and hope it's -actually- going somewhere. Yeah, lots of shipping material here. I'm being fed well.

[itsclydebitches]

i don't really agree that it's icky for triss to have the hots for geralt just bc she has more of a sibling-like bond with ciri. (judging by your posts there's obviously OTHER reasons to find the relationship icky so im talking specifically abt the found-family element) seeing ciri as a quasi-little-sister doesn't mean she sees geralt as a father (or he sees her as any kind of daughter figure) just bc he's ciri's father-figure, especially if they just don't have that kind of established relationship in canon. found family and quasi-familial bonds don't transfer like that. it'd be like saying it's gross for dick and babs to date in DC just because they both view bruce as a father figure.

it's fine to personally find that element off-putting, but i don't understand it bc when it comes to found family, you aren't gonna be able to neatly transfer those kinds of relationships into a static nuclear family dynamic. catra and adora both saw shadow weaver as a mother figure but that doesn't mean they saw each other as sisters or that their relationship is incestuous, you know?

Yeah, there are no neat and tidy boxes here, so it comes down to a) how each individual interprets it and b) how comfortable they are with those implications. Catra and Adora is a great example because, from what I saw in the fandom after the relationship confirmation, a lot of people did consider it, if not literally incestuous, at least emotionally so. Putting aside anyone who may have used "But they're sisters" as a catch-all excuse for why you "can't" have the queer rep, there was a fair bit of confusion regarding how and why these two types of relationships were pit against one another. Catra and Adora grew up together in all the ways siblings would, from living in the same household ("household" really), to experiencing emotional milestones together, to considering the same woman to be their mother replacement... so how does that translate into romantic feelings? Personally, I'm of the opinion that both sides have a fair point because the situation can be read in two rather different ways. Yes, the above description would imply that they should have seen each other as sisters from a young age, taking romance off the table. But if you emphasize the war aspects - they weren't siblings, they were soldiers; they were surviving together; Shadow Weaver was their general (and abuser) - then suddenly it's a matter of childhood friends whose love changed over the years. I don't think either reading is more right or wrong than the other - with the exception that their romance is obviously canon, so in that way it's the correct interpretation - but that debate is definitely there.

For me personally regarding Triss, it's more seeing the reverse order of relationships. I didn't come about it as, "She considers Ciri as like a little sister, which would make Geralt like her dad" but more "She has the hots for Geralt... but thinks of Ciri, his daughter, as a sister?" I've mentioned that the games were my first introduction to the Witcher franchise, so it might have made all the difference to have seen/read about Triss interacting with Ciri prior to their reunion. That is, developing that sisterly relationship and getting used to it. As it stands, her relationship with Geralt takes center stage in the game. She, as far as we know from Witcher 3, knows Ciri through him. Triss' relationship to Geralt - that's her future man if she gets her way - is what defines her relationship with everyone else. So if I was attracted to a guy and found out that this guy had a kid, my first thought would not be, "That's my new little sister" but rather "That's my new, adopted daughter. Because I'm attracted to her father. I want a relationship with her father. That would make me her found family mom." As said, things are rarely that neat and tidy, it's just a very strange, uncomfortable line for me. Especially given the kiss happening in the background, a moment that is supposed to remind us that Triss wants to be with Geralt romantically... while she's greeting Ciri as her sister. Separate the "sis" line from the jealousy kiss by even a few minutes and it likely wouldn't even register as confusing and/or uncomfortable for me.

But, regardless of feelings, it's a very nit-picky detail. I don't think Triss calls her that anywhere else? Hell, given the Polish original you might even be able to chalk it up to a mistranslation. No idea if that's the case, I've never looked into it, but it's definitely a line whose implications likely aren't meant to mean much of anything at all, outside of being a nod to the books and Triss' comparatively young age.

[an-intronerd]

thoughts on jaskier (+ geraskier) post episode 6: rare species

this was honestly supposed to be a teeny little rant but like, my hands grew minds of their own.

...

ok, so like, i recently binged the witcher (and i’m one of those people who has not yet read the books and never played the games, so going in, i had no idea who these characters were or what their dynamics in the other medias were like or anything) and next thing you know, i’m drowining in the geraskier fandom. 

as one does, i’ve seen a lot of geraskier content, including fics and the like, and one idea that’s always there is that jaskier is this heartbroken, sullen, pining thing after the Big Fight. like, 98% of what i’ve seen or read has sad!jaskier. and like, the general plot is always like 

jaskier is sad that geralt yelled mean things at him. 

jaskier sings heartbroken love songs. 

jaskier runs into geralt/geralt finds jaskier/somehow these two meet again. 

geralt is a dick/geralt feels bad but is emotionally constipated so he doesn’t know how to use words to apologize/geralt saves jaskier’s life. 

geralt and jaskier make up because jaskier knows how to read his witcher’s emotions and forgives him. optional: they bang.

the end.

and its like, people aren’t perfect?? i think that’s a little unrealistic. and yes, fanfiction can be like that sometimes, because it’s what we want to happen. but like, imagine this:

jaskier going through the 5 stages.

jaskier goes down the mountain, leaving geralt behind. what else can he possibly do?

jaskier spends a few nights wasted and crying because hey, guess what, the love of his life for the better part of two decades is a gaint wart-covered dick. he’s sad about it, sue him.

jaskier decides fuck this, his witcher is a piece of shit and though he is by no means the best person on the planet, he is at least good enough to deserve better than what geralt gave him. or well, was incapable of giving him.

jaskier decides he will move on, and it’ll start with him getting out of this mountainside village and heading to one of the first places where he truly found himself, oxenfurt. afterall, music has been and will always be the one constant and greatest pleasure in his life.

it takes time, but jaskier perseveres. he gets over his denial pretty quickly. he will not believe geralt didn’t care for him at all. he knows that’s an insult to both of them. geralt cared in his own way. thats the truth. unfortunately, the other, much harsher truth is that it wasn’t enough. so, no geralt won’t be coming for him, and jaskier won't be waiting around.

anger is a bit harder to get over. once it truly sets in, it’s all jaskier can do not to hunt down that fucking white wolf and tear him a new one. jaskier is a person, he is a human with feelings, and that damned witcher had no right to treat him like the scum at the bottom of his shoe. if it wasn’t for jasker, geralt would still be run out of every other town he came across, stoned and bloody. he’d probably have died in a puddle of his own blood fifty times over by now, considering all the times jaskier had to patch him up. that ungrateful prick. except, once he’s exhausted three supllies of parchment and written enough songs about the bitcher, (yes not his most creative insult but he’s too petty to care!) he knows none of that is remotely true. and he wants closure.

and that’s when bargaining hits him full force. all of a sudden, he just needs to see geralt one more time. once more great adventure and a song to go with it, one more meal shared, one more conversation, to see if geralt really ever cared. he needs to ask him, and have geralt verbally confirm or deny his doubts. he needs this, just once. one more time, he needs to see his witcher, and it’ll be enough. one more time. just once. he almost fails himself, on one lonely night. he knows he can’t, he doesn’t even know where he’d start looking but he’s drunk beyond the point where common sense dictates his actions, and he’s packed half his belongings... and he’s getting ready... to track down the white... wolf... he wakes up with a bitch of a hangover the next day, but he didn’t go after geralt. he knows deep down once will never be enough. 

anger was tough, but depression was worse. it came for him like a siren in all her glory, drawing him in and in and in until he’s drowing and he didn’t even realise when that happened and then it’s too much, it’s too painful... he isn’t really surprised. he thrives on emotion, the good and the bad, it’s how he writes such brilliant ballads, he admits he hadn’t really delved into his own feelings about geralt yet. he hadn’t dealt with all the heartbreak follwing the mountain, and maybe he should have done so earlier, but he doesn’t think it matters. his heart wasn’t going to hurt any less months earlier when the wounds were still fresh. and though they may have closed up over time, the phantom pain is always with him. there are days where all he can do is curl up under his blankets and sob. some days he goes without eating a single morsel, finds himself lightheaded from dehydration, not leaving his bed for anything more than to relieve himself. some days, he flips through old songbooks, filled with twenty-odd years of adventure, both the fun and the dangerous kind, and laughter and frustration, companionship and solidarity... what was it he used to say? death and destiny, heroics and heartbreak. words of a lifetime past. some days, he compartmentalizes and sets all that aside in a little box in his mind and goes about his day as if he isn’t weighed down by the constant weight of his loss. it’s almost too much, but he’ll manage, he tells himself. he doesn’t let himself think of what he would do if he can’t.

it’s a cloudless day outside, and he’s in the market for new writing materials, and he’s going over next week’s lesson plan in his head, when he’s hit with the sudden realization that he hasn’t thought about geralt in a while. he’s thinking of him now, sure, but that doesn’t count because he’s thinking of how he’s not thinking of him, it’s a totally different thing, and oh- it doesn’t ache as much as it used to. he feels lighter than he has in a while, and he doesn’t know how that happened, or when, but he’s... okay. 

that’s the thing about healing, it happens whether you realise it or not, you just have to give ypurself a chance. it’s pontless to hold on to the negative feelings because you’re trying to hold on to something or someone that isn’t there anymore or maybe never really was. he didn’t know when it happened, but. the bitterness that accompanied the memories of geralt’s last words is no longer there. neither is the anger. there’s a dull sadness, but mostly it’s resignation and a sort of comfortable if lonely acceptance that geralt is gone. but there’s also a bittersweet understanding that jaskier will always love him. the history they shared isn’t erased because of a few angry words. jaskier will have, if nothing else, a lifetime full of moments and memories. if he sees geralt again, it will no longer be with a vision clouded in pain or anger or sadness, but rather a deep-seated love and forgiveness. he will let geralt decide now what they will be to each other. but he will not accept anything less than what he is worth. he will not be geralt’s punching bag. if geralt wants to have a relationship with him again, it will be one of equals, the bard and the witcher. if he wants to go their seperate ways, well, jaskier will live content like that too. 

he’s moved on.

sometimes, moving on doesn’t mean finding someone else. sometimes, it means mending your own heart, piece by broken piece, and then tucking it away safely inside, giving it a chance to heal. it’s about making that very difficult choice to let go of the bad that you’re holding on to, because it’s a way of holding on to the person you lost. it’s about finding yourself again, and who you were before the pain and heartbreak, and, figuring out who you want to be now. i need more of that, because that’s real. that’s how i imigine jaskier would feel. he’s not perfect, and he has his ups and downs as all of us do, and he is angry at geralt and sad and broken but also he’ll pick himself up, because he was someone before geralt, too, and he’ll still be someone after geralt, not just the witcher’s bard. he doesn’t know who that is yet, but he’ll figure it out.

and because i’m at my core a geraskier + happy endings hoe:

geralt realises an important thing on that mountaintop. he has been running from destiny and anything real all his life. he needs to get his head out of his ass, and find ciri. clearly, he was destined to lose yen, and that’s happened, no matter how hard he tried to make it different. she’s destined to be his and he accepts that now, but everything else is up to him. 

he finds ciri, and then, he’s a father. he vows to be a better parent than the one he had. 

he finds yen, and they learn to be enough for each other without turning it into something more than a vague frienship. somewhere between a truce and a partnership. for ciri, they agree.

he returns to kaer morhen, to his family with his daughter and his yennefer in tow. 

he realises that he has everything he could ever want, and more than any witcher ever gets, but there’s still something missing. 

then he realises it’s his bard, the one person who wasn’t unwillingly tied to him because of some wish or destiny, someone who chose him every single time, and who he misses with such a fierce ache.

then he remebers how badly he fucked that up, and then yen tells him he’s a wart-covered, emotionally constipated dick, and dumb too, but hey thank god you finally got your head out of your ass long enough to realise that you miss your bard and you’re sorry for what you did and you love him, and geralt just goes what? yen, love? oh- okay so that’s what the constant turning of his stomach and insomnia is.

then he sets out to find his bard, and ciri asks if she’ll finally get to hear all those famous songs about geralt from the source, and he says he hopes so.

it doesn’t take him long to find his bard, now a professor at oxenfurt academy, and geralt thinks that makes perfect sense because where else would jaskier have gone but to one of the few bright bits of his youth?

he gets to oxenfurt and it’s a cloudless day, and there’s people millig about and he thinks he’ll head to an inn and give roach a well-deserved rest, and then his heart stops. because there is jaskier, exchanging coin for parchment, and he looks just as he did a year and a half ago, except less disappointed and more happy and his heart hasn’t beaten this fast since he was a child left on vesemir’s doorstep. he thinks of all the nights he’s been unable to sleep because he had gotten so used to the bard’s humming and how it had been the most soothing wordless lullaby. he thinks of his last words, and he feels his breath leave him, because jaskier had taken it to heart, and left him. he’d given geralt his one blessing, and geralt thinks that those words are something he will regret for as long as he is living. he gives himself a moment to wonder if perhaps he should leave jaskier to the life he’s created for himself, be unselfish for once and let jaskier remain happy and safe and free. 

he should leave, though he knows that jaskier deserves so much more from him, an apology to start, and then a real friendsip, one tat goes both ways, and wow, geralt really is a wart-covered dick because he had treated jaskier so unfairly and he doesn’t undertsand why jaskier kept coming back to him, again and again. destiny hadn’t entwined their paths. jaskier chose to entangle them anyways. and he deserves so much more than geralt of rivia, and he should let jaskier have that, he should...

but he couldn’t walk away now, not when jaskier, his bard, his life-long friend, is standing right there, and jaskier turns, collecting his items and geralt stops breathing because jaskier looks over, and geralt watched the recognition flit over the bard’s face as he sees roach and then up, up, up, his eyes trace geralt’s form until.

their eyes meet, and jaskier smiles.

tl;dr: i just want more realistic portrayls of jaskier’s emotions after the Big Fight in episode 6, and i want to see jaskier go through all the feelings, and more depth to him that just some pining, heartbroken lump of a person. he’s more nuanced than that, i think. 

p.s: a big part of this ended up being based on my own experineces with love and friendship, pain and hertbreak, and the process of moving forward despite it all. idk how much of that comes through, and i hadn’t really planned for this post to go in the direction that it did, but i like how it turned out. i’m still trying to figure out that tricky little thing about making the choice to let go, and writing this helped?

p.p.s: this ended up way, way, wayyyyy longer than i intended, oops? why do i do this lol

p.p.p.s: if fics like this actually exist, please feel free to tag me in them or send me links, i would adore you forever!

[sb-essebi]

My favourite things about Witcher 3 (but it’s mostly Geralt/Yen, I swear I’m a serious gamer who looks at gamplay and storytelling too)

Yennefer

Geralt and Yen are two very smart people, but when they’re together they suddenly have to share one (1) braincell, especially if they’re worried about Ciri

Geralt and Yen saw Ciri and they both went “okay she’s my daughter now and I’m going to aggressively love her with my whole heart and she’s going to be the single most important thing in my life and I’ll do anything for her” and honestly? Parenting goals.

you have so many dialogue choices where Geralt aggressively reiterates that Ciri is his daughter and nothing is more important and I love that. Like, you never see fathers in fiction loving their daughters so fiercely and actually being good fathers? (depending on dialogue choices, okay, but they’re the only valid choices fight me)

V E S E M I R

Lambert imitating Vesemir

Excluding Temeria’s fate (the best option is Roche signing the peace with Nilfgaard and losing thus “real” indipendence), you are able to get an unapologetically happy ending. None of that bittersweet bullshit.

Yennefer of Vengerberg

Regis!!!!!!! Soft vampire boy with a questionable punk past!! My heart! I wanted Deatlaff to live just so Regis wouldn’t be sad.

Geralt and Yen have one of the most romantic love stories -and individual scenes- basically ever, I just can’t get over it, and it’s so superior to most of the stuff you see in videogames. I fell in love with her when she kissed Geralt in Vizima and it’s all downhill since, every scene they are together it’s more perfect. Their relationship is realistic, too, since they have a lot of issues to work through but you do get the option to talk about them and resolve them

“You smell wonderful.” “Geralt, we’re at a funeral.” “Then you smell wonderful and this funeral.” this man you guys! he’s so stupid and so in love I love him!!!

Yen shouting “Ciri!!!” the first time she sees her again is the purest shit on the planet and I could listen to it on repeat forever. She loves her daughter so much guys I’m dying, my heart can take it okay omg

when Geralt and Yen meet up in Novigrad after he and Ciri killed Eredin’s general, and he tells her it was Ciri’s idea because Ciri told him to always tell Yen the truth, but he’s worried Yen will be mad because he put Ciri in danger... and Yen praises him for being a good parent and protecting and supporting Ciri because she knows that he would never have convinced Ciri not to go and Ciri would have gone without Geralt if he’d told her no, and she knows that that’s why Geralt went. Like... parents understanding their kids deeply? dreams, amirite?

Yen

I love Cerys so much, if I’d played this game a few years ago I would definitely have had a crush on her (I think she’s like 17/18, considering she’s younger than Hjalmar and he’s around 20 like Ciri), I adored the Hymn mission and kept thinking I really wish she and Ciri had a few scenes together, I kinda lowkey ship it a lot?

Eskel looks like any old distinguished bi, but then you find out he’s secretly absolutely fucking feral and I love characters like that

I love Hattori, he’s so stupid and makes you go through so much for him I don’t even know why I like him, we love a dumbass I guess

Geralt gets this stupid little smile when he’s looking at Yen, and he’s so stupidly in love with her it’s riddiculous but so relatable, me too Geralt, me too

Yen is very smart but literally a dumbass when it comes to Geralt. Like, this woman, this powerful as fuck sorceress really went 20 years convinced that Geralt couldn’t possibly be in love with her, surely it was just the Djinn’s wish and of course she couldn’t possibly be head over heels for him either, better go 20 years without ever saying I love you and thinking that him following her around like a lovesick idiot and saying shit like “you smell wonderful at this funeral” and falling over himself for her approval and to impress her is totally just a spell, nothing to see here, because she really thought sure, everyone loves Yennefer of Vengerberg but no one could possibly fall in love with Just Yen, with all her flaws and insecurities and shit, right? Yeah, I live for that dynamic. The way her voice breaks when she tells Geralt that nothing’s changed and she still loves him? Damn. Poetic gaming.

Have I mentioned Yennefer??

[mikkeneko]

Tumblr is continuing to just straight up eat Asks when I try to reply, so we’ll do it this way.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

In retrospect, I would actually have to say Pavetta’s betrothal banquet! Which is weird, because it offered a lot of great moments -- particularly in the bath/dressup scene beforehand. But there were 1) a fair amount of painful secondhand embarrassment moments, and 2) some meta/other elements that surrounded that sequence that, in retrospect, made the entire banquet and its fallout highly gross to me. 

Mostly the fact that the central narrative of this storyline is Pavetta and Duny’s love story, and how beautiful and True Love and Destined  they are to be together! Except that the cute lil hedgehog boy we’re encouraged to root for later turns out to be a bloodthirsty mass killer, who killed his wife and attempted to marry his daughter, really puts a damper on the romance of it all. I feel like I should have been warned by the fact that he was thirty and she was seventeen, he pursued her and slept with her and knocked her up, and the reason he’d been pursuing her in the first place was that he genuinely believed that she belonged  to him, since her infancy.

Ugh.

This whole thing would have been so fucking much more palatable if they could have just had Emrys and Duny be separate characters. But then it wouldn’t be The Witcher, I suppose.

13. Unpopular opinion about [Jaskier?]

Gosh. I don’t know that I have any opinions of this stripe that are unpopular  per se. I think the closest one I can think of is that while fandom likes to really play up Competent Jaskier -- usually in the realm of him being good at fighting/violence -- I actually prefer for Jaskier to not  be good at those things. I think that it’s more meaningful to have this character who can get by and even excel  in the world despite being absolute shit at swords and punches and violence, because he’s got other skills -- skills with people, with politics, with music and literature and influencing hearts and minds. And I prefer the Geralt and Jaskier dynamic with them having such completely non-overlapping skillsets and still being able to value and cherish the other.

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

You know, this may be one of the only franchises I’m into where my answer to this question isn’t some variety of “the female characters that got done dirty deserved better?” I’m going to go ahead and stick with my above suggestion of having Emhyr be Duny’s father (and therefore Ciri’s grandfather) rather than being the same man. If Duny is a generation younger then his marriage to Pavetta is free of a lot of its baggage, and Emhyr can retain the same emotional attachment/obsession over reclaiming Ciri if she’s his granddaughter rather than his daughter.  Even the attempting-to-marry subplot is less distasteful to me then, since it’s more clearly a political/power move rather than a Gee Ciri, You Look Just Like My Dead Wife/Your Dead Mother thing.

[queenborhapreaderships]

Masterlist

Hey guys! Thought I’d make a masterlist before I lose everything. Until I lose the masterlist, just you wait. ANYWAY!

The Witcher 

Geralt/Reader

~Promise - “ You and Geralt have been traveling together for ages and you have a system down. You're a powerful witch, so you can definitely hold your own. Geralt knows this. Or at least you thought he did. When he puts himself in harm's way for you, quite frankly, it pisses you off. You confront him and certain feelings you've both been hiding creep their way to the light. In an overly complex fashion, because it's Geralt.”

Jaskier/Reader

~The Beginning - “Prompt fill for: "Hello there :) I wanted to ask if you would write Jaskier x reader. The reader is a Witcheress and she travels with Jaskier (and occasionaly Geralt). One day some peasants talk shit About her and Jaskier stays up for her, saying more About his feelings than he intented to? :) thank you and sorry for my English"

~Revelations - “This was a request for jealous Jaskier/Reader but it kinda turned more into insecure Jaskier/reader, but there's some jealousy elements in there as well! Jas and the reader grew up together, inseparable. When Geralt joins the picture, Jaskier is worried he's holding Y/N back and tries to back off. Y/N has to set him straight!”

~Prompt Fill for “ heard you were looking for prints ! how about a jaskier/reader (male or gender neutral) where jaskier is songwriting or practicing while the reader is painting and it’s like cute as hell ? “

More Gen Type Stuff (family dynamics, etc...)

~Shit Happens - “This was a request for protective dad Geralt! I added some friendship with Ciri in there as well <3″

~Prompt Fill for “hey for your witcher proments how about somebody from our world (like peter parker smart but quirky type of personality) gets teleported into the witchers world and shenanigans ensue or something like that. Also love your stuff, keep writing, look forward for the next one!!!!! ;))))”

Sherlock

Sherlock/Reader

~Particularly Human - “Prompt fill for - ‘Would you be okay with doing a Sherlock thing where reader is really really close to him, could be romantic but doesn’t need to be if you don’t want to, and perhaps they get kidnapped (and tortured if you’re up for it??? Perhaps Sherlock can watch from a livestream the kidnapper is doing?) could be a happy ending if you wanna! I’m just here for that gud angst 😈’”

Queen/Borhap Cast

Ben Hardy/Reader

~how dare you? - “Prompt fill for ‘ Hey :) could you do a headcanon about Ben cheating on reader?’ It started as a headcanon then turned into an entireass fic. Love that.”

Rami Malek/Reader

~Prompt Fill for “ How about expecting a baby with Rami and having your first baby” Full disclosure, I entirely forgot I wrote this, it’s pretty short but fluffy as hell. 

~rekindling the flame - “You’re the daughter of Jim Hutton, so growing up was a roller coaster. With Freddie as practically a second father, things were never boring. But time passed and things changed. Everything changed. Not knowing how to process any of your past, you flee to the states in an attempt to write music and find yourself. It pretty much turns into instant isolation! That all changes when you get a call from your Uncle Bri about a movie being made on Freddie. Secrets come to light and you just might find yourself falling in love with the boy with the beautiful eyes along the way.” I abandoned this fic when I faded out of the Queen/Borhap fandom and I Am So Sorry. 

Doctor Who

Eleventh Doctor/Reader

~That’s That - “The Tardis takes a bit of a tumble and you bang your head up pretty bad. Cue a very worried Doctor. He takes care of you which causes certain... things to come to light.”

~Safe - “The Doctor is furious. You risked your life again and he just won't have that. He can't have another death on his hands, but is that all? Is there more to why he's so mad? Spoiler alert. Yes. Yes, there is.”

Merlin

Merlin/Arthur/Reader

~We Were Written in the Stars, but the Universe is a Shit Author - “You've been looking for your soulmates for your entire life, ridiculed and taunted for having two soul marks. Finally, when you've decided it's just not worth it anymore, your soulmates decide to come out of the shadows. Now everything's supposed to be perfect, right? That's how soulmates work, right? Well. You definitely learn that lesson the hard way. Trigger warning for suicidal thoughts and situations (no actual suicide though)”

The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon/Reader (with a hint of Negan/Reader)

~Wherever Loyalty Lies - “ When Rick’s group abandons you after you’re hurt, Negan’s men find you in the woods and take you back to The Sanctuary. Negan takes a very special interest in you. You're more or less his favorite. How do you adapt to this new life while still trying to make sense of your past one? What happens when you come face to face with your family that left you all alone?” Oh god, this was my first fic. It’s like three years old by now. Pls don’t judge me. I tried. 

Also! Feel free to keep up with me on AO3, I post most of my shit there too <3 Please lemme know if any of the links aren’t working! 

[far-butter]

And he doesn’t met her being pretty, she’s brain-dead from an hangover and she makes herself invisible in the bath because she’s just not in the mood and Geralt just get to see the soap and bubbles on a vague shape. AND she makes salty comment to him later about him being a dick and being judgmental of her while he doesn’t have problem watching her breasts.

The best part? He doesn’t like her because she’s magically ehanced to be beautiful. He loves her because she’s imperfect and honestly I can’t say how much The Last Wish novella was breathtaking and fucked with my feelings. He basically makes professional deformation and looks at her with witcher’s eyes. He notices how her nose is a bit too long, how one of her arm is a bit longer than the other (he doesn’t immediatly get it’s because she was a hunchback), her chin a bit too much inward and then woooops how too thin her lips are,  how her make up isn’t evenly applied, how a small dimple appears when she deigns to smile. Her nose is now so perfectly too long and her lips so perfectly so thin under the lipstick and so on. He falls in love with all her imperfections and I think it is really more powerful and intense in the books than in the show.

The Djinn confrontation is basically like “This woman is multifaced and complex and super scary oh fuck I love her” and then she tells him to shut up and to speed the fuck up to choose his wish and he just sees her. It’s like he can touch her soul for a moment and he sees behind the ruthlessness of her gaze and understand all the suffering and turmoil and past behind and understand she was a hunchback. And he choose to destroy this thought at the second he notices it -not because of the truth but because he’s like “oh fuck. Sorceresses read minds” and he doesn’t want her to realize he knows and be hurt and then hate him for that. They’re both vulnerable, Yen in her weakening magic and Geralt in his feelings and while Yen is very angry in the scene to hide her insecurities (because she thinks Geralt see her as weak and unable to wield power and she genuinly doesn’t believe he or anyone can care about her) Geralt is genuinly worried about her, not about him. The whole scene is also very coded with abstract elements/symbols that define the rest of their relation -if I make any sense-  beginning with the storm and the home crashing. (It’s also fun because Geralt doesn’t realize immediatly how hard he fell for her already and how they already argue like an old couple -their book banters are gold. Their arguments are sassy and salty af-. They litterally catfight like kids and Geralt isn’t sure how to handle this fury of a woman. She’s a scary ball of anger and he just deals with it because he loves her anyway and I think he never tries to invalidate her anger or any feelings at any point in the books. He accepts who she is and her temper and never tries to fix her. While it is obvious that Ciri and Geralt -yes in that order- influence her life so much, she makes her introspection and character growth herself, and adjust to be better by herself. And I’d also note that the last scene of The Last Wish is not just sex, it’s a really cute bit with Yen blushing a bit and asking if he’s dead when she sees him laying on the floor and her being taken aback by hearing Geralt’s wish and they’re really sweet to each other and Yen tell him she’s sorry that she hurt him. It’s impossible to not ship them once you read it.)

I didn’t read the books for a while but I also think Geralt also doesn’t tell Yen she’d be an awful mother during the dragon quest? Just like he doesn’t put down Jaskier for his music and actually enjoys his voice?

The doppler was also a missed opporunity to see a cute scene with a dryad with big sister energy and learn more about their culture. And also Ciri catching a cold and sniffing in the woods making the first bonds of the father-daughter dynamic.

I agreed with some things OP said at first but really the “A woman runs the show so it can’t be bad” is bs? The books, written by a man borned in 19HECKING48 are more progressive than this show for now. I agree with Calanthe part especially, because it is true for the show, but the character isn’t progressive when you compare her to the books, as other posters already explained. Level-up your standards about what is a good rep because it is definitly possible and we don’t have more good reps only because we don’t ask for it and because of lazy writing. 

The books are gold. I relate to the characters? I love them all so much or love to hate them? There are lesbian and bisexual women? The books are pro-choice? They realistically depict teens and talk about shits like periods and not knowing how to freaking makeup between sword trainings? Women actually are done with men bs at many points and don’t fear trash talking or calling them out on it? Geralt is a SJW that would piss the dudebros who played TW3 and accuse everyone of “leftist agenda” so much? Geralt is called out for being a dick at some points because he’s not perfect either? The books call out bigotry, and extremists and rapists? They don’t romanticize PTSD or war or abuses? There are disabled and mentally ill people? They don’t try to make ~morally grey~ genocide or warcrimes or discriminations? Actually I was sometimes completly stunned by the fact they were written by a man because they talk about so many female/women issues?? Stuff many female auhors refuse to talk about and I thought men would find uninteresting or superficial or gross? It’s never talked about in a fetichist or condescending way? It’s just as real and important as any other issues like war, sicknesses, politics, relationships, rivalries or stuff as trival as allergies? The writing is more vivid and inspirational than GoT imo?

Honestly the books may not be everyone’s taste because there’s a lot of characters and some very gory passages but honestly it’s the most feminist saga I read. I love it so much because women are so powerful and complex and flawed and independant. They can plot against each other one day but there’s support and friendships and alliances in the end. It’s the first saga I really saw parts of myself in and it made me really deep think about shits,-maybe more than HP-, from accepting my curls because Yennefer’s are described as beautiful many time (and in modern time she wouldn’t take shits and iron them anyway, as she’s bold and unapologetically herself) to the Sorceresses teaching me to seize the opportunities and be assertive of my opinions and not let potential regrets keeping me from living because fuck that. Do yourself a favor and read at least The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny. Don’t be fooled by the Sapkowski’s bashing, his books are great.

I love that the Witcher proves how you can have a sexist world without having a sexist story. The framework is patriarchal, it’s at times blatantly sexist and at one point Yennefer even bitterly points out that, as far as the world as concerned, women are just vessels. But the narrative isn’t.

Things like – it would be so easy to turn Yennefer into a villain. She’s got a classic Femme Fatale backstory, she hits every point, she’s powerful and ambitious and ruthless… but she isn’t evil. In the end, she doesn’t put her ambition over doing the right thing. She doesn’t let her recklessness get in the way of the Battle at Sodden Hill; she registers some displeasure at being put up in the tower to observe and report, but she does it, and she does it without reserve or bitterness, to the best of her ability. She went through hell to find the power that she thought would give her what she wanted, only to discover that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be – on her own. She didn’t get this revelation from a lover, or from some great tragic descent into madness and fall from grace. She came to this realization over time, without someone else’s opinion.

Queen Calanthe – jfc, Queen Calanthe is how Daenerys Targaryen should have been handled. She’s a powerful woman, an unapologetically ambitious warrior woman, who falls and loses her throne and country – exactly the same way a King would have. Her flaws – her hubris, her selfishness, her unwillingness to let go of her granddaughter – lead to her downfall, but they do so rationally. She doesn’t go mad, or start making stupid irrational decisions, or have to be otherwise softened – she loses the battle. She was out-maneuvered, and her support was blocked, and she just failed. She just lost. Queens – any poweful woman, really – always go mad and have to be put down For The Greater Good, they never get to be a Tragic Hero in the classical sense – always Lady Macbeth, never Hamlet.

Calanthe is a fucking Greek Tragedy. She hits all the high points of an Aristotelean Tragic Hero: she evokes pity and the fear that the viewer could have made all the same mistakes; her fortunes change from prosperity to adversity, not through vice or depravity but through error of judgment; that error is made through a fundamental character flaw, something that the character could have stopped, but also couldn’t because of who they are as a person.

I cannot think of another Queen treated this way in fiction.

There’s one single mention of rape, and that character does imply that this in part led to her not being a princess anymore – followed almost-immediately by the main character explicitly and pointedly calling her Princess, pointing out that it isn’t what was done to her that makes her monstrous, it’s what she herself does. Even so, it’s simply part of her backstory, she’s the one who brings it up, and there’s no gruesome flashback to “evoke sympathy” or whatever bullshit excuse to show women suffering.

It’s just. It’s so obvious that this showrunner is a woman. The comparisons to GoT are all over the place, and obviously – they’re both dark, gritty fantasies with a heavy political aspect – but the way this show treats its characters, and particularly its women, is just so refreshing. It’s not without its flaws, and while I’ll admit that there were a few moments where I was like, “did she really need to be naked here?” none of those moments were tasteless or predatory, and there was none of that gratuitous degradation of women that was such a hallmark (and turnoff) of Game of Thrones.

(There’s more, too, about how the Witcher differs from GoT in how sometimes, some people are just decent and kind. Sometimes, people really are all right, and do the right thing regardless of their own self-interest. And while, yes, it would be unrealistic if everyone or even most people were that way – it’s just as unrealistic to have no one be. There’s this element of human compassion in the Witcher that’s far too rare, if it exists at all, in Westeros, that makes the world so much less heavy. There’s plenty of darkness and bleakness, but there’s also kindness and compassion to balance it out. But that’s a whole other post.)

It’s just. God, it is just so nice, to have a fantasy show that acknowledges sexism without itself devaluing the female characters.

[entergamingxp]

The Witcher 3 Fan Art Denotes a Beautifully Detailed Geralt and Ciri

June 1, 2020 8:35 AM EST

Another week and yet another incredible The Witcher 3 fan art showcasing the powerful Geralt and Ciri.

As we stumble onto another Monday with heavy hearts from the chaos that’s happening across the United States, it almost feels wrong to write about video games right now with so much sadness and anger happening. But if there’s anything that could possibly bring a little distraction into people’s lives right now, it’s some Witcher 3 fan art. As any Witcher fan will know, the game is incredible – there are no other words to describe it, and to back that theory up, last week we heard that The Witcher franchise has now surpassed 50 million copies sold all together since its debut in 2007. In celebration of this, we have some amazing Geralt and Ciri fan art to show off.

Leo Huang whose an artist and indie game developer has crafted a wonderful illustration of the mighty lone wolf Geralt of Rivia and adopted daughter, bound to his destiny by the Law of Surprise, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, better known as Princess Ciri. What’s most impressive about this particular piece of art by Leo is the immense attention to detail – just check out that cloak of Geralt’s! It almost looks like it is part of his long famous white hair but as you can see, its fastened at the front of his chest by some sort of buckle. The long, wavy and surreal looking shawl coats a sitting Ciri holding a sword. Geralt’s chainmail almost pops out of the picture due to the fantastic detailed Leo has interwoven throughout his art and the electric blue background makes for a dynamic setting for this power couple.

Leo truly is an amazing artist who uses the boldest colors and the most interesting subjects to create their works of art. I’d recommend checking them all out right here and if something catches your eye (which it will), you can even purchase it right here.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt celebrated its 5-year anniversary a few weeks ago so, naturally, I took to my keyboard to type out why I still love it so much to this very day. If you have a few minutes, you can check that out right here. For all things monsters and mythology from The Witcher Netflix show, take a look at this guide that goes into great detail about the lore of the monsters that Geralt encounters. For something to look forward to while we await the second season, Netflix announced a few of the new faces that will be joining the cast of The Witcher. The seven new cast members to join the series is Yasen Atour as Coen, Agnes Bjorn as Vereena, Paul Bullion as Lambert, Kristofer Hivju as Nivellen, Thue Ersted Rasmussen as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia and Mecia Simson as Francesca. For those of you who love Killing Eve, you’ll notice a familiar face in the next season. Kim Bodnia, who plays the role of Konstantin in the spy-action thriller, will play Geralt’s father figure and the oldest Witcher on the continent, Vesemir.

If Vesemir happens to be your favorite character, you’re in luck as Netflix is giving the most experienced Witcher his own animated show. Though The Witcher is well known from CD Projekt RED’s video game trilogy, the Netflix series is based on the eight-book saga of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. There is a wealth of material within Sapkowski’s novels and short stories, but Nightmare of the Wolf will not adapt any of them. Instead, Netflix is looking to tell an entirely new story about the beloved character who will be introduced in the show’s upcoming second season.

Be sure to check out our own review for the Netflix series The Witcher here. If gaming is more your style, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

  June 1, 2020 8:35 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/the-witcher-3-fan-art-denotes-a-beautifully-detailed-geralt-and-ciri/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-witcher-3-fan-art-denotes-a-beautifully-detailed-geralt-and-ciri

[cheryls-blossomed]

Any predictions and/or hopes for Season 2 of The Witcher?

So many, nonnie! Thank you for asking. Okay, so we don't know for sure, but season 2 most likely will draw upon the third Witcher book, Blood of Elves, which I think is great, because it means we're hopefully in for a more Ciri-centric season 2. Of the three protagonists, Ciri was the one who got the least development in season 1, and part of it is because her story really only kicks in later, but I'm glad the Lion cub of Cintra is (hopefully) getting her centric season.

Obviously, a lot for Ciri. In Blood of Elves, Geralt takes Ciri to Kaer Morhen, a witch's keep, so that she can be educated and trained by the remaining witches. I'd like a focus on Ciri's powers and her learning to use them, as well as Geralt training Ciri.

Dara was a character introduced for the show, and I love him dearly, and so I would love if the show brings him back for season 2. I want Dara and Ciri reunited.

Just lots and lots of Ciri, basically. Ciri's power is unmatched, so the show exploring her coming into her own is exactly what I want to watch in season 2.

Season 2 is introducing us to a bunch of key players from Blood of Elves, including two of my faves, Philippa Eilhart and Vesemir. Vesemir is an older Witcher and father figure to Geralt, so I'd like the relationship between Vesemir and Geralt to be fleshed out.

Speaking of Philippa, a focus on three of my favorite sorceresses (after Yennefer, of course): Philippa, Triss, and Fringilla. Because we're being introduced to Philippa, and given her popularity, I think we're definitely going to be seeing a lot of her. Blood of Elves is also a really interesting one for Triss: after her ordeal at the Battle of Sodden Hill, I think we're going to see a lot more of Triss, particularly the incredible power that she wields. And I definitely want to see a lot more of Fringilla. After Yen, she's my favorite character, and her dynamic with Yen supposedly carries over from the Battle of Sodden Hill, so yes... more of Fringilla and more of Fringilla and Yennefer's dynamic.

Yen. Obviously, when it comes to Yennefer, I'd like the show to reunite her with Geralt sooner rather than them being separated for the duration of Blood and Elves. Given the show's timeline, Yen will have to recover from burning the Nilfgaardian battalions, and we've been told that while she saved the Continent, by doing so, she will pay a hefty price. So, obviously, exploring Yen in the aftermath.

I do think we'll see Yen and Geralt reunited before the end of the season, so I'm not too worried about that.

Yen saving Jaskier from the wizard, Rience. This is a thing in the book, so yeah... definitely want to see that.

In Blood of Elves, Geralt leaves Ciri at the Temple School of Ellander, and Ciri is still being haunted by troubling dreams, until Yennefer arrives and beings training her. THIS is what I'm most looking forward to: Yen educating Ciri in the ways of magic, and the two of them forming a really strong, beautiful mother-daughter bond. This is my favorite part of Blood of Elves, and I really hope the show does Yen and Ciri's relationship justice.

[stillhotter]

MY FANDOMS

***bold nad italic means fav***

BIGGEST OTPS:

ALBERT+VICTORIA

YENNEFER+GERALT

amy+rory

francis+mary

bellamy+clarke

will+tessa

doctor+clara

fred+hermione

CIRI+CAHIR

REY + POE

TV SHOWS

A Series of Unfortunate Events

And Then There Were None

Anne of Green Gables (the old series):

ships:

Anne+Gilbert

American Gods

characters: Wednesday, Mad Sweeney, Shadow Moon

ships:

Shadow+Wednesday (as hmm, better watch/read it hahah)

Mad Sweeney+Laura Moon (I just love their dynamics)

American Horror Story (Murder House):

ships:

Violet+Tate

Atlantis:

ships:

Ariadne+Jason

Awkward:

ships:

Jenna+Matty

Black Mirror

Breaking Bad

Broadchurch

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Dancing on the Edge

Degrassi

Desperate Housewives

Doctor Who:

characters: Eleven, Amy, Rory, River, Clara, Twelve, Thirteen, Yasmin

ships:

Amy+Rory

PONDS AND ELEVEN

Eleven+River

Clara+Doctor (with Eleven it’s as a cute lovebirds but with Twelve it gets deeper, I love both!!)

Eleven+Amy (platonic)

Ten+Rose

Euphoria

Eye Candy:

ships:

Tommy+Lindy

Friends:

ships:

Ross+Rachel

Chandler+Monica

Phoebe+Mike

Rachel+Joey

From Dusk Till Dawn:

ships:

Seth+Kate

Richie+Kate

Game of Thrones:

characters: Daenerys Targaryen, Margaery Tyrell, Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Robb Stark

ships:

Daenerys+Tyrion

Robb+Myrcella

Daenerys+Jon

Robb+Daenerys

Sansa+Daenerys (QUEENS OF ICE AND FIRE!!!111!)

Daenerys+Drogo

Jon+Ygritte

Arya+Gendry

Gossip Girl:

characters: Blair Waldorf

ships:

Serena+Nate

Blair+Nate

Blair+Dan

Great Expectations

Hemlock Grove

House of Cards

How I Met Your Mother

ships:

Barney+Robin

Ted+Mother

Legends of Tomorrow:

characters: Rip Hunter, Sara Lance

ships:

Sara+Rip

Legion:

characters: Lenny, David, Syd

ships:

Syd+David

Lenny+David (but you know, not in a romantic way LMAO)

Marvel’s Netflix Series:

characters: Jessica Jones, Matt Murdock, Frank Castle

ships:

Matt+Karen

Karen+Frank

Luke+Jessica

Matt+Elektra

Matt+Jessica

Merlin:

ships:

Merlin+Morgana

Arthur+Gwen

Misfits

characters: Nathan Young

Mr Robot

Once Upon A Time

ships:

Emma+Hook

Parks and Recreation:

characters: April Ludgate, Andy Dwyer

ships:

Andy+April

Leslie+Ben

Peaky Blinders:

characters: Tommy Shelby, Michael Gray

ships:

Tommy+Grace

Tommy+Tatiana (more as Tommy and personification of his madness)

Penny Dreadful

ships:

Vanessa+Dorian

Preacher:

ships:

Jessie+Tulip

Reign:

characters: Mary Stuart, Francis Valois, Lola

ships:

Mary+Francis

Mary+Bash

Narcisse+Lola (flirting phase)

Claude+Leith

Riverdale:

characters:

ships:

VERONICA + JUGHEAD

Veronica+Archie

Cheryl+Toni

Shadowhunters:

ships:

Isabelle+Simon

Isabelle+Clary

Alec+Magnus

Clary+Jace

Sebastian+his accent

Sherlock

SKAM:

characters: Noora Sætre, Sana Bakkoush

ships:

Sana+Yousef

Noora+William (french Manon and Charles as well)

Jonas+Eva

even+isak

Skins:

characters: Chris Miles, Freddie Mcliar, Tony Stonem

ships:

Chris+Jal

Freddie+Effy

Cook+Effy

Rich+Grace

Alo+Mini

Stranger Things:

characters: Mike, Dustin, Steve, Will, Max

That 70′s Show

ships:

Eric+Donna

Donna+Steven

Steven+Jackie

The 100:

ships:

Bellamy+Clarke

Raven+Shaw

Lincoln+Octavia

Murphy+Emori

Gabriel + Josephine

The Bold Type:

characters: Jane Sloan, Kat Edison, Sutton Brady

ships: all of their ships are cute so far in a way

The Borgias

The Cry:

characters: Joanna

The Crown:

ships:

Elizabeth+Philip

The Magicians:

characters: Eliot Waugh, Margo Hanson, Penny Adiyodi

ships:

Penny+Kady

Eliot + Margo (as friends)

Eliot+Quentin

Josh + Margo

The Mentalist

The Night Manager

The O.C.

ships:

Seth+Summer

The Tudors

The White Princess:

ships:

Elizabeth+Henry

The White Queen:

characters: Richard York

ships:

Richard+Anne

Elizabeth+Edward

(Everyone were driving me from love to hate and back at some points so...)

The Vampire Diaries:

ships:

Damon+Elena

Stefan+Elena

Timeless:

ships: 

Lucy+Wyatt

Lucy+Flynn

Rufus+Jiya

True Detective

Westworld:

characters: Dolores, William, Ford, Maeve

ships:

Dolores+William

Will

Veronica Mars:

ships:

Veronica+Logan

Vikings

characters: Lagertha, Ragnar Lothbrok, King Ecbert, Athlestan, Rollo

ships:

Judith + Ecbert

Rollo+Gisla

Victoria:

ships:

Victoria+Albert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Victoria+Melbourne (platonic-ish)

Ernest+Harriet

Drummond+Alfred

MOVIES

#

(500) Days of Summer

A

About Time

Amelie

American Beauty

American Psycho

Anna Karenina (Anna+Vronsky)

B

Before Midnight

Before Sunset

Before Sunrise    

Birdman (Sam+Mike)

Black Swan

Blade Runner

D

Donnie Darko

Dorian Gray

Drive

F

Fight Club (Tyler+Marla)

Filth

G

Gladiator

Gone with the Wind

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

H

Harry Potter Series (Harmione, Dramione, Romione, Hinny, Fremione... I ship everything lmao AND I LOVE MARAUDERS ERA)

I

Inglourious Basterds

Interview with the Vampire

Into the Wild

K

Kick-Ass

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

L

Like Minds

Lord of the Rings Series

Love Actually

Love, Rosie

M

Macbeth

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (LILY JAMES ILY)

Marvel Movies

Match Point

Meet Joe Black (Joe+Susan)

Moulin Rouge!

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (John&Jane)

MCU (Peter+Gamora, Tony+Pepper, Wanda+Vision)

P

Pride & Prejudice

Pulp Fiction

S

Se7en

Sherlock Holmes

Slow West

Star Wars Series (Anakin+Padme, Han Solo+Leia, REY+POE OMG)

Stuck in Love

Submarine

T

The Boat That Rocked

The Dreamers

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Great Beauty

The Great Gatsby

The Guest

The Hunger Games Series

The Men From U.N.C.L.E. [Gaby&Illya]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Pirates of Carribean (JACK&ELIZABETH)

The Prestige

The Social Network

The Virgin Suicides

Troy

W

Whiplash

BOOKS&COMIC (some)

1Q84

A Song of Ice and Fire

Adrian Mole series

American Gods

Artemis Fowl series

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Gossip Girl

Great Expectations

Harry Potter (Ginny+Harry, Hermione+Ron)

On the Road

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Infernal Devices (Will+Tessa)

The Hunger Games (Katniss+Peeta)

The Magicians

The Mortal Instruments (Jace+Clary)

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Witcher (Geralt+Yennefer, Ciri+Cahir)

GAMES (only faves)

Assassin's Creed Series:

characters: Ezio Auditore, Kassandra, Haytham Kenway, Evie Frye, Bayek

ships:

Ezio+Sofia

Bayek+Aya

Arno+Elise

Kassandra+Brasidas

Mass Effect Series:

characters: Garrus Vakarian, Thane Krios, Mordin Solus, Jack, Jaal Ama Darav, Nakmor Drack

ships:

Shepard&Garrus

Shepard&Thane

Ryder+Reyes

Ryder+Jaal

Witcher series:

characters: Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer, Cirilla, Dandelion, Triss Merigold, Zoltan

ships:

Geralt+Yennefer

Dandelion+Priscilla

Geralt+Ciri (as father and daughter)

ANIME&MANGA

Attack on Titan

Code Geass

Death Note

Fullmetal Alchemist

Paradise Kiss

[itsclydebitches]

Soo like 6 days ago I started watching the Witcher stopped at ep 7 bought the Witcher 3 and have been playing it nonstop. The shows okay? I think? (From someone who only knows what the series is from a 4 hour critic video that I had no idea what was going on in BUT- the game is so funnnn. Like I barely know what’s going on, from that video and people discussing things online but WOW??? Like how was I not told about this shit earlier??? Dandelions realllllly icky thooo like I thought he’d be more fun and less “wow your straight fucking scum” but I mean at least he cares about his friends? Triss and yennifer are... Oof rough BUT I’m only just in the game, hope they’ll grow on me? Or change? But Ciri? Is adorable? Her parts are so fun to play her dodge is so fun.

The novels! Have You read them? Where does one get them lmao Ik they’re translated?

[old timey fisherman's voice] WE CAUGHT ANOTHER ONE, BOYS!

Ahhhh new Witcher 3 fan!! Congratulations, anon, you've unlocked my numerous Thoughts™ and Opinions™ on the matter that I am now going to dump on you in bullet point form. No spoilers though!

Okay, okay, yeah I like this game a totally normal amount. I've sunk at least 250 hours into it (so far) which might not be much compared to the Pro Gamers and whatnot, but it's an insane amount for someone like me who possesses the attention span of a goldfish. I don't do any of the same thing for 250 hours (except write things on tumblr, I guess)

I didn't know what was going on either when I first played. I didn't even have the show to sort of help me out, Witcher 3 was the first Witcher story I ever dove into. The great thing though is you can just... google stuff? See, idk if you've worked this out yet, but the games all take place post-book series. All the stuff in the series happened, then Witcher 1 starts with Geralt having amnesia, and everything else in the games is new content. Which means that though there's obviously a fair number of book spoilers throughout, it's pretty easy to google worldbuilding questions without getting game spoilers. So once I understood that I was able to supplement what I was getting via game osmosis with stuff like, "Who the fuck is Nilfgaard again and why does everyone hate them?" or "What did Triss do to Geralt?" without getting any quest-specific spoilers. Basic wiki articles with, "Such and such is related to such and such and once did This Thing" was super helpful.

Yeah, the show is just okay. I'm far less enamored with it a year later than I was at the start. I think I was trying to like it more than I actually did... Honestly, I'm actually somewhat wary of getting more seasons simply because of how TV shows tend to dominate fandoms. The Jaskier/Geralt dynamic is a perfect example: once the show does something, a very large portion of the fandom tends to take that as their preferred canon. Finding non-TV!Jaskier/Geralt content is more of a struggle now. Which isn't a bad thing, god knows I'm happy to have more Witcher content in general, it's just too bad that we have game and book dynamics that are, at least here on tumblr, largely overshadowed by the show. My fave in the whole franchise - Regis - is someone I'm particularly worried for because if the show does him dirty and the whole fandom takes that characterization as gospel, I may not recover lol.

Dandelion's characterization in Witcher 3 is, sadly, not what I'd hoped it would be. To my mind book!Dandelion is superior to both game!Dandelion and TV!Jaskier. It's his dynamic with Geralt that made me ship them in the first place. He does grow on you in the game though (or at least he did for me), but he's definitely presented as more annoying/inept/creepy than in the books. And don't even get me started on how they butchered that relationship in the show... Though I WILL say game!Dandelion remains pretty funny. There's one quest in particular that never fails to make me laugh. Also his fashion is on point for a flamboyant bard.

Oof Triss and Yen... beware, anon, that is THE debate in this fandom and the one you might want to steer clear of lol. Personally, I'm not a fan of either. Triss is fine, I guess, but not someone I really, actively like and Yennefer is... well. Let's just say if I could do away with any character it would be her. I absolutely despised her in the game, was told she was better in the books, started the books, hated her even more, tried to give her a chance in the TV show, and ended up hating her there too. I'm just not a Yen fan, at all, which basically makes me the black sheep of the Witcher fandom lol. You might warm to them though, the majority do, however, know that you don't have to romance either of them. My Geralt was quite happy being a single father to his amazing daughter Ciri :D

I've read the short story collections and read enough of the novels to realize it wasn't my cup of tea. Basically, there are two collections of interconnected tales as Geralt goes about his witchering and then a six book epic following the hansa and everything with Ciri. Personally, I couldn't get into the epic and dropped the novels early on. In my humble opinion Sapkowski, writing a character like Geralt, (much like Doyle writing Holmes) excels in the short story format and then struggles stylistically in novel form. I found his writing tedious, the themes not nearly as poignant (many outright uncomfortable), and the fact that Yen is a central part of the whole tale didn't help sell things for me. Reading a six book series where a good chunk is dedicated to the supposedly epic love story of a couple where you hate one half and find the whole relationship cringy (though not in a way the story is purposefully acknowledging)... doesn't make for great reading imo lol. But I want to emphasize that that's my take and god knows it's a minority one. Most fans adore the books - and I do heartily recommend the short stories - so definitely give them a shot for yourself some time.

They are indeed translated (I can't read a word of Polish lol) and are very easy to find in a bookstore, online seller, etc. The wiki article lists them all.

(Though know that you definitely can't download ebooks for free via the Z Library. Nope. Not possible. Don't know why I'm even getting your hopes up.)

Really though, Witcher 3 is my fave, hands down. Out of the books, the show, the other games... Witcher 3 is the version of Geralt and the world that I truly fell in love with. When people say "Witcher" that's the version of Witcher I'm eager to discuss. However, if you can stomach early 2000s games with pretty terrible graphics, I recommend trying Witcher 1 and 2 once you're finished (I was immediately ready for more gameplay content after I'd finished lol). Witcher 1 is, in many ways, a mess. God the combat system drove me nuts... BUT it has a strange charm that I, in all seriousness, really loved. Meanwhile, Witcher 2 (Assassins of Kings) is far stronger. You can easily see the building blocks of Witcher 3 in the narrative choices and worldbuilding. Plus, AoK has Iroveth who is just such a fun character. Wish he'd made it into Wild Hunt :(

Also the comics! I bought the omnibus a while back and didn't regret the purchase for a second. House of Glass (the first story run) also has one of the saddest Geralt moments for me. Just this single panel that lives in my head, rent free, making me Feel Things on occasion lol. There's a new run, Fading Memories, releasing this month (!!!) which I can't wait to get ahold of once the trade paperback is out.

Oh god I could ramble about Witcher 3 for ages but this is already getting so long. Do all the side quests! Return to places you've already been to for fun surprises! Replay decisions to see how differently things turn out! Play lots of Gwent! Enjoy the gorgeous landscapes! Be sure to get the amazing DLCs when you're finished! Play Hearts of Stone first because Blood and Wine has an ending-ending and I didn't realize that, so it was a little weird to get the emotional finish and then have like 10+ hours of gameplay left! Oh, and if you haven't figure it out already know that you can put points into any skill in the General Skills tab (you don't build on it like the fighting/signs/alchemy tabs) and I would snag the "Gourmet" ability ASAP because it has saved my ass so many times.

AND ENJOY PLAYING

I wish I could play it for the first time again, but diving back into more Blood and Wine tonight will have to do :D